


Discard

by StellaHope



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Lotsa pain and suffering, Now there’s an actual picture cuz I just figured out how to add it, Pale King is not the best dad, Self-Loathing, Serious Injuries, Some suicidal thoughts, basically throwing up Soul, just a little Vessel getting thrown into the corpse pile
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 21:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16503485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaHope/pseuds/StellaHope
Summary: In the process of singling out the perfect Vessel, thousands of the King’s children were deemed failures and thrown into the Abyss to die. The King thought little of the discards, payed little mind to the reason they truly weren’t perfect— that they had actual feelings. But they were simply objects, empty shells given animation, were they not? Surely they couldn’t suffer.He couldn’t have been more wrong.A short story from the perspective of a small Vessel that failed the tests and was promptly thrown over the edge of the Abyss with no remorse. A recount of their plummet to the depths and their hopeless attempt at redemption.





	Discard

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy again, I’ve been hesitant to post this one because I don’t know how much people will like stuff that doesn’t include canonical characters, but I guess I’m throwing it up here anyway because I really like how it came out. Lotsa dark stuff in here, lotsa Vessels getting their whole bodies broken from falling from super high up, but not too much graphic gore or anything, so I’m leaving it teen for now. I’ll change it if y’all think I should, I’m not sure how people judge warnings and stuff on here :>
> 
> Enjoy my second story on here I guess lol
> 
> (Also, all the support on Surfacing Fears is incredible and I never expected it to get such a good reception, thank you guys so much <3)

The plunge was excruciating. 

Before they knew what was happening, the small Vessel had been lobbed over the side of the platform above the pit, the light swirling dizzyingly for what felt like an eternity as the distance between them and the pale bugs increased. Falling, falling, falling, down into an inky hell of death. Their innards felt like they were floating, being pulled upward, the sensation slowly growing to be unbearable as they plummeted deeper. It felt as if they would be torn apart from the inside out.

It dawned on them that there had to be an end. They didn’t know what would be at the bottom, they didn’t know if it would be soon or not, and they couldn’t turn around to watch it approach. An instinctive feeling boiled inside them, a jolt in their chest that felt as if something in their body was about to explode, and it didn’t stop growing. Something needed to come out. 

Before they could stop themself, they were unleashing a hellish wailing sound, which tore at the air around them as if it were trying to destroy it. White claws of Soul ripped into the darkness, trailing behind them as they left the desperate spell behind. The sound echoed throughout the pit and came back in horrific whispers of suffering, as if thousands of voices were crying out with them.

The darkness consumed everything as they neared the end. They could feel it, they were close, it wouldn’t be much longer now. Inky blackness pressed in on all sides, reaching up to pull them down faster, to draw them in and keep them forever. They gasped for air. 

**CRACK.**

They hit the ground with such force that they thought they’d been completely obliterated. For a moment, their entire body went numb, and they stared blankly up at the pinprick of light above, now finally stationary. Their mind was a mess of thoughts frozen into abrupt stillness, unsure of how to register their current state. A shrill ringing filled their ears and the world was muted for a moment. Their body didn’t dare move, shocked into stasis and barely breathing, as if it didn’t know how to process whatever it was feeling. 

Then, after a long period of lying there, watching their siblings fall around them, the numbness began to dissipate and pain started to flood in… not just in their heart, but everywhere. Every inch of their shell screamed in fiery agony, every twitch of their nerves sending lightning bolts of shock through their entire being. Never before had they been in this horrifically intense amount of pain. They sent up an attempt at another Soul-filled cry, but were only able to choke out a small curl of white spectral mist, leaving their stomach feeling like an empty pit. The Void inside them churned in the place they had once held the essence, and they heaved dryly at the sensation.

They couldn’t be here. This wasn’t right. The distance between them and the light at the top of the pit was horrifying. The light… that was slowly getting dimmer. Was the door closing? Fear rocketed through them, begging them to get up, to reach the light at all costs. They attempted to heave themself upright, but as soon as they made even the smallest movement, they were forced back down, the overwhelming pain restricting them from possibly escaping. It was over, the door was closing, they were trapped… broken.

However, the light didn’t fully fade, and they found themself holding their breath as they waited for… something. They didn’t know what. Then, a voice rang out through the entirety of the dark abyss—

_“Rise. Join me.”_

There was another chance. 

Before they knew what was happening, their body was moving, pain singing in every inch but refusing to be still any longer. They had to reach the voice. They had to be at his side. They were incapable of wanting anything else.

Their small feet crunched over white shards as they walked purposefully, and they nearly choked as they realized that they were stepping on the shattered masks of their siblings. But they didn’t stop. Broken horns stabbed into their soft shell with every step, and they felt black ichor start to seep out, but it didn’t matter.

Positioned beneath a small ledge carved out of the pit’s wall, they stopped. Their bleeding feet throbbed as their body thrust itself upward, leaping as high as possible, and they slammed into the side of the wall, clutching desperately at the top of the platform. Their stomach churning, they clawed their way onto it, stumbling to their knees as they heaved themself on top. As they knelt there, panting, they were distantly aware of others of their kind attempting the climb as well, and they immediately shoved themself up, refusing to be left behind.

Another platform, the only one they could see, was too far to jump to. However, before they even registered moving, they found themself leaping at the ledge with all their might, although they knew they wouldn’t make it. Out of some strange instinct, they felt their cape flare, and a pair of wings flashed into existence for a split second, catapulting them higher and dumping them violently onto the platform. They clambered to their feet, looking around for another place to land, and saw another Vessel slip from a platform just above them, falling headfirst back into the depths. Its head smashed into their own platform with a sickening CRACK before it plummeted downward, leaving inky black ichor on the stone at their feet.

They jumped again. Their next landing was dangerously close to a patch of metallic spikes, and they nearly tripped directly into it as they tried to right themself. Tilting their head back, they scanned for more platforms. It was a long way up still. The doorway was but a speck of light overhead, and their body was screaming for them to stop. But they had to make it… they could have a second chance, they could be better this time, they could get out of the agonizing darkness… 

They lept upward, pumping their ghostly wings desperately, and nearly overshot the landing. However, they didn’t react quickly enough to notice the top of the platform was not empty, and landed feet-first directly on a patch of long, sharp spikes. Their vision spun and flickered as they felt the cold metal pierce cleanly through their already-split shell. Frantically, they tried to pull themself away from the deathtrap, and, before they could find safe footing, they found themself staring up at the doorway, and their stomach dropped.

They were falling again.

This second drop felt eternal. They stared up at the few surviving Vessels leaping from ledge to ledge, getting closer to the light than they would now ever be, and a numb terror crept across their shell as they realized their ultimate failure.

_Don’t leave me down here… I can be good… I can do it… please…_

_Give me another chance, Father…_

**CRACK.**

They wished it had killed them this time. Why couldn’t it have just killed them? Why couldn’t they have landed on a disembodied horn and been impaled? Why couldn’t it just end…?

Their whole body trembled as the light above went blurry. Cold, black droplets seeped from their eyes, rolling down the sides of their mask and falling onto the dead shells beneath them. They were worthless, so incredibly worthless, and this was their punishment. They would be stuck here to rot for all eternity, shivering in the dark, broken, hopeless…

Static crept in on the sides of their vision and their head spun from the intense blood loss, and they reflexively wanted to expel more Soul. They watched as two more Vessels fell, landing with loud SNAPs that made them feel beyond sick. Their breathing went shallow as they watched one of their siblings hesitate on one of the final platforms, and then attempt to leap again, fluttering its wings in an attempt to propel itself all the way, but it came just short and tumbled down through the platforms, each hit producing a quiet snap as its shell broke dozens of times over, ultimately ending in a sharp THUD at the bottom. No one had been successful in the climb.

Everything went silent save for the constant rumbling in the air. Nothing moved. The light above was still. The world was frozen.

_“All failures. And no new emerges. Yet another utterly defective clutch. What a shame.”_

And then, with an agonizing grinding sound, the door was sliding closed. He was leaving. The darkness was intoxicating, terrifying, suffocating. It was going to swallow them whole. 

As the light lessened, the little Vessel raised a shattered arm to longingly reach for it, shaking violently, tears streaming down their fractured mask.

_Don’t… leave me… please…_

And then all was black.


End file.
